Closure for a connector box

ABSTRACT

This invention provides a closure for a connector box. The closure includes a lid located adjacent an opening in the box which is coupled to the box by means of a hinge. A sealing member of resilient material is wobbingly coupled to the lid through a convex surface on at least one of the mutually facing surfaces of the lid and the sealing member. A spring urges the lid toward a closed position facing the opening so that the sealing member is held by the lid between the box and the lid by the force of the spring. Since the sealing member is wobblingly coupled to the lid, its position self-adjusts to compensate for dimensional discrepancies in the assembly when the sealing member contacts the box during closing of the lid to seal the opening.

United States Patent Stieler et a1.

[ Dec. 11, 1973 1 CLOSURE FOR A CONNECTOR BOX [75] Inventors: AlfredOtto Hugo Stieler,

l-leilbronn/Neckar; Gerhard Leonhard Emil Billmann, Rappenau, both ofGermany [73] Assignee: Bunker Ramo Corporation, Oak

Brook, lll.

[22] Filed: Oct. 6, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 186,900

[52] US. Cl. 220/29, 138/89 [51] Int. Cl 865d 51/18 [58] Field of Search220/31 R, 29, 35, 220/57, 46, 24 J, 24.3; 138/89 [56] References CitedUNITED STATES PATENTS 413,546 10/1889 Pearls", 220/35 1,087,167 2/1914Groehn.. 220/29 X 1,486,064 3/1924 Warren.. 220/35 X 2,113,484 4/1938Krauss 220/35 2,274,319 2/1942 Chesterman 220/57 I'll/Ill x Brown 220/57Bellek 220/35 X Primary Examiner-l-lerbert F. Ross AssistantExaminer-James R. Garrett Attorney-Frederick M. Arbuckle 57 ABSTRACTThis invention provides a closure for a connector box. The closureincludes a lid located adjacent an opening in the box which is coupledto the box by means of a hinge. A sealing member of resilient materialis wobbingly coupled to the lid through a convex surface on A at leastone of the mutually facing surfaces of the lid 5 Claims, 1 DrawingFigure 1 CLOSURE FOR A CONNECTOR BOX FIELD OF THE INVENTION Thisinvention relates to the field of closures for boxes, particularly toclosures for sealing electrical connector boxes which may be exposed toadverse environments.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART .matically closed when the plug connectoris removed.

Connector boxesof this type are often employed in automobiles as part ofthe electrical connection between the vehicle and a trailer, or as wallsockets in humid rooms, such as bathrooms, or in vehicles running onrails.

In known connector boxes, the sealing member pro- I vided between thelid and the body is fixedly connected with the lid and consists of anelastic disc or an elastic ring. In order to create a hermetic seal forthe internal space of the connector box, care must be taken that thesealing member uniformly contacts the entire periphery of the opening inthe housing body to be sealed. To obtain this uniform contact, the lidand the body of prior art connectors have to be precision machined oradjustable, thus contributing considerably to the production cost of theconnector boxes. Despite the high quality of the parts composing theconnector box, a gap between the sealing member and the housing bodyusually developed as a consequence of deformation occurring in thecourse of time in the sealing member (which was usually made of rubber).Dirt and humidity could enter through this gap into the connector boxand result in malfunction or permanent damage.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention toprovide an improved closure for a box which tightly seals the box.

It is another object of the invention to provide an improved closure fora box which'remains tightly sealed even after deformation of the sealingmember.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a closure for a boxwhich is simple in design and economical to produce.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a reliable,tightly sealed closure for a connector box utilizing a lid having asealing member which is wobbingly coupled to the lid. The wobbingcoupling of the sealing member to the lid allows the sealing member toadjust its position so that the sealing member is always uniformlypressed against the periphery of the opening in the body when the lid isclosed. Thus, tilting of the closed lid with respect to the periphery ofthe opening in the body (which may result from variations in dimensionswithin production tolerances) does not result in a gap between theclosure and the periphery of the opening, since the wobble of thesealing member compensates for the tilt. Even deformation of the sealduring the life of the connector does not destroy the tight seal.

The wobbling mounting of the seal member in the lid is preferablyobtained by providing a dome-shaped rise on at least one of the mutuallyfacing surfaces of the lid and the sealing member. The sealing membermay then wobble around the dome-like rise. The resulting small contactarea between the lid and sealing member guarantees that the sealingmember is not highly stressed on only one portion of the sealing area bythe pressure exerted by a lid which may be slightly tilted with respectto the body. Consequently, even when small forces are exerted on thelid, the sealing member is uniformly pressed against the periphery ofthe opening in the housing body, thereby providing a tight seal.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the sealing member includesa rigid metal disc joined to a resilient disc. The rigid disc faces thelid and the resilient disc faces the box. The pressure force exerted bythe lid upon the sealing member is transferred through the rigid discand through the resilient disc to the sealing surface of the resilientdisc adjacent the periphery of the opening in the body. Thus, theresilient disc of the sealing member is supported by the rigid disc andmaintains its shape over extended periods of time so that a tight sealis obtained even when the box is tilted with respect to the lid.

In one convenient embodiment, the rigid disc contains an aperture in thecontact area, through which the resilient disc of the sealing memberengages the lid by means of a screw which is threaded through theresilient disc into the lid. Thus, the sealing member is readily coupledto the lid in a manner permitting wobbling of the sealing member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The accompanying FIGURE is a partialview of a connector box with a cutaway portion showing a cross sectionthrough the closure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The invention will now bedescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawingrepresenting a preferred embodiment of a closure for an electricalconnector box.

The FIGURE shows the connector box with the lid in the closed position.The body 2 is shown in schematic form partially cut open to clearly showthe lid 4 with the sealing member 6 situated between the body 2 and thelid 4. The mating socket which is normally inserted into the body is notshown in the FIGURE.

Sealing member 6 comprises a rigid annular disc 8 which can be made of ametal such as brass, and a resilient (or elastic) disc 10 which has thesame diameter as the rigid disc 8 and which is attached to rigid disc 8preferably by an adhesive cement. Resilient disc 10 is made of anappropriate material such as rubber or plastic. It is to be understoodthat a single solid resilient disc could be used without a rigidsupport, if desired.

The resilient disc 10 is centered in the opening of the rigid annulardisc 8 by means of a shoulder 12 and fills 20 is inserted between thehead of the screw 18 and the sealing member 6 in order to increase thearea over which the screw head contacts the elastic disc 10. The screw18 is threaded into the hole 16 in the lid 4 in order to hold thesealing member 6 to the lid 4. A convex portion (dome-like rise) 22protrudes from the lid surface facing the sealing member and includesthe threaded hole 16. Convex portion 22 abuts the surface of the sealingmember 6 thus creating an annular gap 24 between the sealing member 6and the lid 4. The sealing member 6 can wobble within this annular gap24. It is contemplated that the convex portion 22 may be an integralpart of the sealing member assembly rather than the lid and serve thesame purpose.

The lid 4 is connected to the body 2 by means of a hinge which pivotsabout shaft 26. A spring (not shown) is mounted on shaft 6 to urge lid 4into the closed position.

When lid 4 is closed, sealing member 6 automatically engages the edge ofthe opening to be closed with'a force which is relatively uniform overthe entire periphery of the sealing member 6.

If the sealing member 6 were rigidly attached to the lid, normaldeviations within the production tolerances would result in contactbeing established at only a single point along the periphery. In thepresent invention, however, the sealing member can move (or wobble)about the convex portion 22 at screw 18, thus causing the sealing member6 to uniformly engage the entire periphery of the opening. Only verysmall forces are required to move the sealing member 6, since only asmall portion of the resilient disc around the convex portion 22restrains the resilient disc 10.

From the foregoing, it can be readily realized that this invention canassume various embodiments. For example, the sealing member 6 can beattached to the lid by inserting a pin-like extension of the resilientpart into a hole in the lid, and by attaching this extension to the lidwith adhesive cement. In an additional embodiment, the rigid disc can beprovided with a ball at its center which bears against the lid, ratherthan having the resilient disc extending through an aperture in therigid metal disc.

We claim:

1. A closure for a box comprising: a movable lid coupled to said boxadjacent an opening in the said box; a sealing member wobblinglycoupledto said lid and held by said lid in alignment with said opening betweensaid lid and said box when said lid is in a closed position, saidsealing member including a rigid backing disc facing said lid and anunderlying resilient disc facing said box, said backing disc having acentrally located aperture therein through which said resilient disc isexposed; and means coupling to said lid that portion of said resilientdisc which is exposed through said aperture whereby said sealing memberself-adjusts its position to uniformly seal said opening when said lidis in a closed position.

2. A closure according to claim 1 wherein said means for coupling saidresilient disc to said lid comprises a projection on said resilient discwhich extends into said centrally located aperture in said rigid discand coupled to said lid.

3. The closure according to claim 2 wherein said lid is provided withconvex protrusion against which the projection on said resilient discabutts.

4. The closure according to claim 2 wherein said projection is fixed tosaid lid by means of a connecting screw extending through both theaperture in said backing disc and said resilient disc and into said lid.

5. A closure for a box comprising: a movable lid coupled to said boxadjacent an opening in said box the inner edge of said opening beingrounded; a sealing member wobblingly coupled to said lid and held bysaid lid in alignment with said opening between said lid and said boxwhen said lid is in a closed position, said sealing member including arigid backing disc facing said lid and an annular shoulder of resilientmaterial affixed to said disc and extending around the face thereof atits outer periphery, the inner and outer diameters of said shoulderbeing such that when said lid is closed the peripheral wall of saidshoulder most remote from the center of said disc yields to conform tothe rounded inner edge of said opening whereby said sealing memberself-adjusts its position to uniformly seal said opening.

1. A closure for a box comprising: a movable lid coupled to said boxadjacent an opening in the said box; a sealing member wobblingly coupledto said lid and held by said lid in alignment with said opening betweensaid lid and said box when said lid is in a closed position, saidsealing member including a rigid backing disc facing said lid and anunderlying resilient disc facing said box, said backing disc having acentrally located aperture therein through which said resilient disc isexposed; and means coupling to said lid that portion of said resilientdisc which is exposed through said aperture whereby said sealing memberself-adjusts its position to uniformly seal said opening when said lidis in a closed position.
 2. A closure according to claim 1 wherein saidmeans for coupling said resilient disc to said lid comprises aprojection on said resilient disc which extends into said centrallylocated aperture in said rigid disc and coupled to said lid.
 3. Theclosure according to claim 2 wherein said lid is provided with convexprotrusion against which the projection on said resilient disc abutts.4. The closure according to claim 2 wherein said projection is fixed tosaid lid by means of a connecting screw extending through both theaperture in said backing disc and said resilient disc and into said lid.5. A closure for a box comprising: a movable lid coupled to said boxadjacent an opening in said box the inner edge of said opening beingrounded; a sealing member wobblingly coupled to said lid and held bysaid lid in alignment with said opening between said lid and said boxwhen said lid is in a closed position, said sealing member including arigid backing disc facing said lid and an annular shoulder of resilientmaterial affixed to saId disc and extending around the face thereof atits outer periphery, the inner and outer diameters of said shoulderbeing such that when said lid is closed the peripheral wall of saidshoulder most remote from the center of said disc yields to conform tothe rounded inner edge of said opening whereby said sealing memberself-adjusts its position to uniformly seal said opening.